Original Writing: Alfie's introduction
AN: Alfie is probably one of the most adorable characters I have, but this is because I know him. So, I'm going to introduce you to Alfie a little early. This is the start to Chapter 7 in my NaNoWriMo.
I arrived on normal time to my music class and walked in with a throng of other students. Everyone grabbed a seat and so I found the nearest and least-dodgiest looking one, next to two guys. One was talking animatedly with the guy next to him, but the other was just sitting there, an iPhone in his hand and scrolling on the internet. I sat down gingerly, not wanting to draw any more attention to myself than need be. That wasn’t until later. I cringed a little.
The teacher wasn’t here yet, and since everyone was talking, I guessed I should as well. The guy on my left was now acting as if he were eating a grenade, so I quickly diverted my attention to the quiet one on my right.
"Uh, hi,” I almost squeaked. “First year here?”
The guy ignored me. Completely ignored me.
His longer-than-mine-but-not-too-long brown hair was caught under a large beanie, even though hats weren’t allowed inside, and he was casually fiddling with a strand in his hand closest to me.
“Hello?” I tried again.
I was ignored once more. He didn’t even look in my direction. I glanced up, seeing if anyone had noticed me attempting to speak with him and quickly locked eyes with a dark-skinned girl. I was about to look away when she cautiously gestured to her ear.
I frowned and turned back to the guy. He didn’t have headphones plugged into the iPhone, so he obviously wasn’t listening to music.
“Okay, fine.” I said and turned back to face the front, confused. As I did, I caught his arm and was about to ignore the urge to apologise when he jumped.
“Son of a—!” He whispered in an odd tone before looking at me. He winced and put a hand to his own ear. I was about to be severely offended before I realised what he was doing and I saw—he had a behind-the-ear hearing aid.
“Sorry, were you talking to me?” He asked, putting his phone away. He looked entirely apologetic and sounded it too. He rearranged his beanie slightly, rolling the volume dial that lay behind his ear up so he could hear me, and then he grinned minutely. “I turn it off when I’m surrounded by loud mouthed idiots. If I have the choice not to be able to hear, why should I?”
I laughed, albeit a little nervously and introduced myself. He smiled again.
“I’m Alfie Wright. It’s short for Alfred, which apparently means ‘wise counsel of the elf’. I googled it.”
This time I laughed genuinely. “Counsel as in advice?”
“Yup,” He grinned, “Everyone else I told thought I meant some sort of elf congress.”
“That’d be pretty cool though.”
“I bet it’d get out of hand somehow.” He rolled his eyes. “God, trust me to start a conversation about elves and names. My name’s just boring British.”
“Y’know, I think my Mom once mentioned I had a very foreign name,” I said. “Apparently Kevin is Gaelic, or Irish—where she got this from, I don’t know—but it means handsome.” I ‘pfft’ed. “Let everyone down on that front.”
“Aw, you didn’t,” He grinned.
I paused. “Y’know, you’re the first person here that hasn’t stated I’m American to my face. So thanks for that.”
He winked. “No problem. So, first year at Stanley? Haven’t seen you around before.”
“Yeah,” I smiled, “It’s kind of crazy right now. How long have you been here?”
“Since this.” He said, indicating to his ear. “My old school just couldn’t seem to cope with it for some reason, and I was not transferring to some weird school for special needs. So my parents let me come here when I was thirteen.”
“Oh right.” I answered. There was a small silence between us before he scoffed lightly.
“I’m just going to be outright honest with you here, because you look so damn confused. I lost the majority of my hearing when I got the mumps, although I tell a lot of people that I just listened to a shitload of loud music. Nothing much to it.”
“Oh, no, I—I didn’t really—”
“Relax, it doesn’t matter.” He smiled, “A lot of people just ask when they first see me, so I thought I’d just tell you.”
“Oh. Right.” I said, probably looking stupidly stumped. “Well, uh, thanks.”
“You got any sort of defects?” Alfie asked before seeing my expression. He shook his head, a smile on his face. “I’m just kidding.”
“Oh, right.” I repeated, smiling lightly.
